(Our emphases, of course.) Those are some extracts from Davidson’s speech to the Conservative Party conference in Manchester a few days ago. It’s a strong point. If only we could think of anyone who was at that conference – perhaps someone who took to the platform just minutes after Ruth Davidson – who might follow her advice.

Our country to Ruth Davidson is Britain not Scotland. It is now clear beyond doubt that Scotland is not a nation in these people’s eyes. The “proud Scots” schtick is wearing more and more thin the closer we get to the referendum.

“… and how much the United Kingdom benefits from Scotland as a member.”

This has been covered in the Daily Mail and several other papers. The answer is apparently nothing – Scotland takes from the union. Philip Hammond goes as far to suggest that Scots themselves couldn’t be bothered to physically defend Scotland. As Derek Bateman says in his latest blog:
“… we are such a basket case of a country that our own people won’t want to defend it. We are also such a backwater, it seems, with nothing worth defending, that no potential conscripts would bother to take part in a Dad’s Army and would prefer to join up to fight for Glorious Albion.”

If proud Scottish unionists will not themselves rise to state what Scotland contributes to the union why on earth would someone elsewhere?

I think more lads would join up knowing they aren’t going to be sent to illegal wars. For the first time in a long time Scotland would have a proper marine contingent protecting our waters and the rigs

Lots of things to gain … if we vote ‘YES’ … and an awful lot to lose … if we vote ‘no’.

O/T but just heard that Spud Murphy the ex- ‘Defence Minister with Mondeo’ is to become very active in the BT campaign. Wooooeee – it just gets better and better. Carmichael, Darling, Murphy – some half-back line eh?

Interesting that Murphy appears to be putting his head above the parapet. He was keeping a low profile in terms of involvement in the referendum. The No campaign must think they are home and dry, as Murphy is the personification of the careerist politician. If they thought the result was in doubt then Murphy would not bother to get involved.

She can gibber the biggest load of mince about our wonderful time together, and all those delightful memories that we shared together.

At the end of the day, the Brit Unionists want to go in one direction, while Scotland wants to go down another path, and unless she can give us proper reasons as to why we should go down the Tory elitist path, I can only see more and more folk north of the border going ‘….nah! your all right. I think we’ll go this way.’

I’m dying to see this ‘fight’ they are going to put up. I thought it was meant to be a debate, but hey, what do we know …we’re ‘too stupid’ (well, that’s what they say…)

So, Stilring Council are going to ‘make a stand’ against this referendum by flying their Union Flag, and Ruth is going to fight for the reasons as to why we should remain in the cabal. So much for it being a debate, then.

If they thought the result was in doubt then Murphy would not bother to get involved.

I suppose he’s got to get involved – if we vote Yes, he’s out of a well-paid job and might find himself in the same situation as some of his constituents – doing work experience at Poundland in return for his dole money. You bet he’ll get involved – with people like Murphy, self-interest is the basis of all action.

If we vote Yes, and he has not really taken part in the campaign then he would put his name forward for a full fat Holyrood. If he gets seriously involved in the No campaign, and there is a Yes vote then he is finished. I agree entirely with the self interest bit though.

Murphy will become ‘involved’ in so far as the press release saying he’ll be involved extends. My guess is he’ll linger in the shadows of BT, waiting to see which way the campaign goes next year. As the ultimate unprincipled careerist, he has plenty practice in oily manouevering.

@John Lyons
“At the local elections last year she said the best kind of Government was where decisions were made locally. I agreed with her then. Lets make ALL decisions that affect Scotland in Scotland.”

Her real plan (backed by her Labour Unionist bed-fellows) is, at the first opportunity, to take the devolved powers of the Scottish Parliament and devolve them to local council level, thereby ensuring the SP is well and truly neutered.

@muttley79‘Interesting that Murphy appears to be putting his head above the parapet. He was keeping a low profile in terms of involvement in the referendum. The No campaign must think they are home and dry, as Murphy is the personification of the careerist politician. If they thought the result was in doubt then Murphy would not bother to get involved.’

Murphy’s career change/demotion is being portrayed by some as a cull of the Blairites by a teensy-weensy-bit-to-the left-of-New-Labour Miliband. If that is the case, what better siding in which to shunt Spud than a messy campaign, tainted by Coalition collaboration and with a fair chance of it being lost by whichever Unionist sect he chooses to join.

I just read an article on Bella Caledonia called Walking Together, in which the proIndependence writer states that Labour would be the greatest beneficiary of Independence and that the reason for the existence of the SNP would disappear the day after the vote.

The writer then goes on to list the problems that would occur for Scotland that are put forward by the Together campaign to scare us into voting No.

However these problems are the ones that have been repeated over and over again by Together Labour in Westminster and in Holyrood to scare us into voting No.

Thought Murphy had refused to campaign with the Tories in Better Together. He is still in the Shadow Cabinet and he does have a job to do with International Aid. By rights he should actually be abroad more and getting up to speed with his brief. Then again he may simply bide his time to return to a high profile post.

I take it Ruth’s you can all help call was “give us your money, Better together is skint”

I chocked at the eulogies for soon to be Lord Menzies Campbell who instructed Scottish Lib Dems not to form a political alliance with those dreadful Scot Nats in 2007 as he was opposed to a democratic referendum on independence and according to recent Channel 4 programme ignored warnings about MP Cyril Smith’s activities with young boys.

“….just how much Scotland gains from the UK….”
We ain’t gaining from coverage of the Commonwealth Games – the start of the baton relay has slipped off the BBC News website’s top stories and now resides down below in “Also in the News”. Ach well, it’s only the third largest multi-sports event in the world….
Meanwhile on the BBC Sport page, the story is tucked down under news that Cardiff football club has given a recruitment job to a 23 year old.
It’s one gain after another….

Is this the same Ruth Davidson who only last year declared before an audience of English Tories that 88% of Scots contributed absolutely 0 to the UK? Now she wants those self same English Tories to do her campaigning for her? The English Tories have been telling themselves, their voters and the rest of the UK that the reason we booted them out, is that we are subsidy junkies. They’ve done such a good job of this that most English people believe this horse shit. But it does bear on a trend I have been seeing on twitter, & various forums. Odd little BT trolls appearing all of a sudden bemoaning our poor state of affairs from starvation to defence. The extolling the benefits of dependency as a boon of Union.

O/T Just noticed over on Newsnet that one of the posters has said there’s a public event on at Aberdeen Uni on Friday on an independent Scotland’s relationship with the EU. Here’s the link in case anybody wants to go:

And here’s another, dramatically different in style, but equally a part of our very own distinctive Scottish music culture, and with the added bonus of being dedicated to one of very own posters.
(hi there, TMITJ).

O/T I feel that I should know this guy, unfortunately I cannot remember when I saw him, but by jings, I wish we had more like him, he is brilliant.
Rev, please allow the link.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kx S3RjilBzg

@Stuart Black.What a nice OT. Have you hacked my brain, was just thinking about Alex H after you mentioned the fabulous John Martin. Saw a lot of John when I worked in the Third Eye in the late 70’s. Glad we can still see and hear them. Cheers.

@Lobeydosser, nice user-name by the way, I used to post with that name on the old Herald thread years ago, when it was as bonkers as the Hootsmon is now. I’m so glad you enjoyed both the links, John Martyn and the SAHB are long time heroes of mine, and I was delighted to find footage of the marvellous Alex donning his trenchcoat under his street lamp, it brought back cherished memories of the Apollo days,

John Martyn though, what a sad loss, absolutely wonderful music that I think doesn’t reach as wide an audience as it should, sad.

Well said Stuart but taking her point at face value I think the more English people voice opinions on the Independence debate the better.

I know that it is dangerous to generalise English opinion from the reader comments of the Daily Mail and Telegraph but it seems reasonable to say that there is little enthusiasm among the English for Scotland continuing as part of the Union.

Nationalism is on the rise in England – fair enough – some manifestations of it not perhaps as open hearted and open minded as that in Scotland but some definitely is. People down south seem to see themselves more and more as English as opposed to British in the same way they do in Scotland.

I have always said that if the English had a vote next September YES would be home and dry.

Bannockburn event going ahead:
“The National Trust for Scotland’s three day spectacular takes place on Saturday 28, Sunday 29 and Monday 30 June 2014 and, as well as a brutally realistic re-enactment of the battle, features an array of themed villages, where visitors can enjoy everything from Scottish food and drink to sports, crafts and literature, exciting outdoor activities, an action packed children’s programme, a main contemporary music stage and more.!

You are spot on, mate. This is the Tory conundrum, and hopefully (…or rather, I’m getting on my knees, and begging to God) that this just doesn’t come back to bite the Tories on the @rse; I hope it absolutely f****** savages them! Here’s my dream scenario…
As James points out, the Tories have told the whole of England (and the rest of the UK for that matter) that Scotland is a complete basket-case. That the people north of the border are only interested in being on the dole, and that they are only interested in, in grabbing as much benefit money as they possibly can, off the wonderful UK state.
Now …as James rightly points out, the Tories now expect the rest of the UK to turn around to these northern benefit-scrounging subsidy junkies and ‘literally beg’ them to stay in the union. Many people down south are going to be a tad confused and upset if the truth is finally revealed to them.

I hope when the moment comes, it is on something live such as Question Time. I hope it’s a major edition of the show, and the reason they are having it is because some daft piece of legislation is about to be passed, and it has upset the folk of the south-East.
To answer questions, the show invites some major UK political figures to explain what can be done (imagine something like Theresa May, Harriet Harman, Vince Cable and Nigel Farage on the show …you know …something on those lines).
I hope half the nation is tuned in as this is deadly serious. It is at this point, that we get that ‘key moment in time’. The topic of conversation leads to ideas of ‘how can we save money to solve this problem’, and it is at that moment, that an audience member suggests that ‘one way that the UK could save money is to cut Scotland loose as it is a financial basket-case anyway, and let’s not forget, these ungrateful Scots want away anyway because they are having this referendum. Let’s help them out of the UK state!’

Can you imagine the horror and deathly silence from all of those political faces as they try to work out an answer to that one. ‘Eh no, that’s not a good idea. Scotland is major contributor to the UK state.’

I hope the audience explode in a fury of protestation, and once Dimbleby has finally calmed them down, we get one English gentleman in the audience, who politely says something on the lines of, ‘Excuse me, but that is not true. We have been told time and time again, that Scotland does not benefit to the UK at all; that it is a severe drain on our financial resources. Are you now saying this is not true, because if you are, what are you really saying? Are you saying that we have been lied to for decades? You’ve told us for years (waves a finger at the entire panel) …yes, the whole lot of you …that Scotland is broke, worthless, completely useless and does nothing except provide bodies for the army, and gives us oil. So, what’s the truth?’

I pray that something like this comes to pass. Seriously …how good would that be? Can you imagine the effect all over Scotland?

@Bugger the Panda. Thanks for the welcome back. Been in Italy for a couple of months. Tried to keep up with the news while I was there. This site is my go to site, the quality of information, comment and humour is the best, kept me outraged and laughing in equal measure.

@Ron Burgandy“I know that it is dangerous to generalise English opinion from the reader comments of the Daily Mail and Telegraph but it seems reasonable to say that there is little enthusiasm among the English for Scotland continuing as part of the Union.”

Ron you are a master of the understatement!

I am not having a go at all English folk here but thats quite an understatement! I agree with Ruth Davidson (whew that was difficult to type!) I think that everyone in England should join in and take part in the debate. I think that everyone in Scotland should get to read the BTL comments in the likes of The Mail and Telegraph.

I have realised that out of the comparatively large population of England there are bound to be a few nutters but the tone and volume of the comments are truly beyond belief. It is a pity that more of the people living in Scotland don’t get around to reading them very often.

“but we all have a stake in the result” says Ruth. First question from anyone listening should have been; “What? Better off you mean, because we are always told we subsidize Scotland?”

How can the rUK rationalize the obvious hypocrisy in that drivel? Either Scotland’s better off in the UK, or the rUK’s better off with Scotland surely? Unless Ruth was speaking emotively…, …but she is a Tory, so not likely.

Caption: “This Scottish glass is half empty. If it was a British glass it would be half full. That is why we’re better together”

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